General Question

How would you succinctly describe this business?

It is a smaller version of Full Circle. It used to be a CSA farm, but has since outgrown the moniker due to expansion and the incorporation of produce and other items from farms and vendors who are both local and regional (within a 700 mile radius, including Mexico). All the produce sold is Organic, but it cannot be advertised as such because points in the distribution chain are not certified Organic (so things are generally referred to as organically-grown). The sourcing philosophy is to sell goods that are local and/or organic (or one of each if there is no local and organic, such as it is with milk). Offerings besides produce include meats, dairy, eggs, baked goods, coffee (locally roasted) and local honey.

It works with local and regional producers/growers as a way of supporting a regional food network, too. For example, it worked out an arrangement to buy apples from an orchard in a neighboring state for six times the price per pound that Whole Foods would pay this grower (and was still able to make a profit and sell them for cheaper than Whole Foods would.)

All orders are placed online, and then they are delivered to homes and offices, except in areas where home delivery is not available, in which case, they are delivered to pick up locations. Customers who use pick up locations, by the way, cannot order perishables that require refrigeration, so they pretty much are limited to produce and baked goods.

So, it’s not a CSA anymore, but it has a local and organic focus and also is a “click and delivery” model except when there’s not a delivery option.

One proposal is to call it a Regional Food Collaborative (RFC), but it seems to some kind of silly to invent a category with a name that is a little dull and doesn’t really create an image of the experience or the strengths of the company. It also doesn’t say anything about the click and deliver aspect.

Personally I like “Regional Food Collaborative”.
It has the appeal of a collective/co-op organization (and presumably profit distribution).
I know it doesn’t say much about the food production goals/methods but people can learn that.
It has a solid, no-glamor feel to it that could still seem that way fifty years from now.

I also like “Sustainable Farm and Foodshed” for similar reasons, but it leaves out the collective/co-op aspect that I find appealing.